Here and Now
by cupidity11
Summary: Part 3 of the Knotted Series: Friends Through Lovers. They're partners in protecting the Earth and friends. Where will the future lead them? It's impossible to know. But, the only thing that really matters for them, is here and now.
1. Preventative Measures

Two days ago they'd reached planet Earth's rotation with the full intention of marking the planet a part of the Garshnock Empire. Even if that planet was incredibly out of the way of any kind of populated star system. According to their readings, Earth was the only planet with 'sentient' life for lightyears around.

Their Rule was expanding and quickly. It was necessary. That was the known law of the universe. You became a Galactic power or ended up as an unwilling gear in some larger empire's machine.

* * *

Captain Malak-a was glaring at the ship's readings, all red and flashing. As if someone had known exactly what to do to make it so that they were basically sitting in a metal deathtrap. No way out. No way to call for backup (not that any would be forthcoming).

The door slammed shut and Looma-r, her co pilot, flattened himself against it, out of breath. He looked terrified, all four eyes wide with panic.

She sneered in his direction. "I'm guessing you didn't take care of the problem."

He shook his head, gulping in air and crossing the room to her. Only closer, did she note the singe marks along his left side.

"What happened?" Malak-a hissed. Although she may not be a figure of compassion, she cared for her crew.

"T-there's an irken." He swallowed, eyeing the flashing systems screen. Things were only becoming more and more dire. "And one of the creatures from this planet."

"What? An irken?" The captain growled, claws curling into tight fists. "Are you telling me THEY are responsible for this...this catastrophe?" He nodded vigorously.

"They're working together."

Malak-a quickly pressed in a series of commands. Nothing worked. Nothing! Whoever had done this had a lot of experience with wrecking things.

"That's ridiculous! Irkens work with no one. They barely work with each other." Their species was violent. Raised to be natural killers. And even the ones that didn't become soldiers, were dangerous. Competitive and rude to boot.

"I know what I saw, Captain! They were communicating! They shot at me!" Looma-r gestured wildly at his burn marks. She turned to looked at him fully, examining his posterior. Either whoever was attacking them were terrible shots or... Hard pounding at the door. Looma-r had locked it at least. She growled and pulled her weapon from the holster around her waist.

"You idiot. You led them here." Voices on the other side, harsh languages that she had never bothered to learn so she couldn't reply. Her co pilot jumped behind her, shaking with fear.

"I-I'm sorry." Her rage faded from him and she directed it towards their intruders. Towards whoever had wrecked her ship. To whoever had the gall to attempt to impede the progress of the great Garshnock Empire. There was the sound of lasers, a bright, burning pink and a perfect square of metal fell into the room. She readied her weapon, not willing to go down without a fight. She saw a 'human', delicate looking, so strange. It had a grim look on its face and she raised the barrel to shoot it right in its stupid head.

Another bright pink blast. She screamed as pain overwhelmed her. Malak-a dropped the gun to hold her hand to her chest. They'd shot her. She hissed and dropped to the floor to pick it up again, only a tiny black boot kicked it out of range. She looked up to see an irken. Looma-r had been right.

Instinctively, a thread of fear pulled tight in her chest. Irkens were terrifying. Even this one, despite it being one of the smallest ones she had ever seen before. But, her natural fear was replaced quickly with anger, hatred and pride. Her people were some of the only races in their corner of the galaxy that had never succumbed to the irken menace. She refused to die to one this day.

It barked something at her, pink eyes flaring up with arrogance and rage. Beside it, the human stepped forward and placed a hand on its shoulder. She narrowed in on the action. Never had she seen irkens touch, or allow anyone to touch them. Even in battle. She waited for the inevitable rage that would follow, it would strike this human down for daring to lay a finger on it.

And yet...she saw the irken's face change. It softened, the anger dulling instead of flaring up to a new height.

And that was perhaps the most terrifying thing she'd ever seen.

Beside her Looma-r was shaking, perhaps equally as shocked. Perhaps he was just scared. The human stepped forward and she regarded it warily. It said something to the irken who replied in the same language. It nodded and watched her, equally as wary.

"Why are you here?" The irken finally said, looking incredibly displeased to be speaking their language. She scowled, disliking hearing a filthy irken using their words, anyway.

"None of your business, irken scum." The irken sniffed disdainfully and she heard it relay her words to the human who tilted its head to the side. A strange patch of hair on its forehead rose at the words, an annoyed glower at its irken companion.

"What is it saying?" It ignored her for a second, waiting until the human was done speaking.

"He. His name is Dib. He said, _'Let me guess. They're from another species that your people managed to piss off,huh?'_ And my name is Zim."

She sneered. "Like I care what you call yourself, you cog."

Zim returned the sneer. "Forgive me for attempting to be polite."

"Irkens don't know the meaning of the word. Why are you on my ship?"

"To find out why YOU are here."

"Did that really require destroying my vessel?"

Zim shrugged. "Not really. But, it made things much easier."

Malak-a curled her hands into fists, shaking with rage. "If you kill us, more will come, scum."

The human, Dib said something again. She turned her attention back to him, uneasy under his gaze. Perhaps it was how pinpoint his eyes were. Tiny black dots, surrounded by gold.

Zim sighed, exasperated. "He wants to know who you are? What your names are."

She was taken aback. "I refuse. Our names are our own, no one but those close to us might know them."

Zim threw his hands in the air. "I tried to tell him that!"

It was only now that she noticed the lack of gloves. And of uniform. He wore human clothes?

"You...you say you are 'Zim'. What is your title?" All irkens had them. Even the lowest of the low carried their title before their names. Tallest Red and Tallest Purple. Elite Scientist Blar. Invader Tenn. Table Headed Service Drone Bob. Titles were important, vital. It was their position in the machine.

She watched the irken freeze, saw him glance away, then look at the human, searching, as if asking for help. But, he said nothing. He swallowed before lifting his chin.

"I am...Zim. That is all."

She watched him warily. This was no normal irken. "You...have no title? Then you..." She thought hard. "Then what is the matter with you, little irken?"

Zim growled and went to lunge for her. But, the human stepped in his way, held him back, said some things to him that had the anger on his face dissolving again into a manageable irritation.

It was downright eerie to watch.

The human turned to her and said something in it's strange flat language. Zim sighed and began to translate, eyes looking anywhere but at her.

"Dib says, _'Just tell us why you're here. We don't want to hurt you. We're just trying to protect our planet.'"_

A ripple of shock went through her and she could feel Looma-r jolting a bit with the realization. An irken...protecting a planet? With one of the members of the planet? No uniform? No title? This was way too weird. It went against everything she had ever learned or seen about the most violent, powerful race in the known Universe.

Looma-r was the one who spoke. "We-we're from the Garshnock Empire. We are to mark this planet for conquest, it will be added to our ranks."

Zim's face contorted into rage and he relayed the information to the human. She turned to glare holes into her co-pilot who wilted under it. The human spoke back, hands and arms moving all over as he talked. His face was pinched with...with some emotion. Humans had strange expressions. She couldn't quite read him.

Malak-a watched the irken wave away the human's words and turned towards them, face a mask of neutrality.

"You will not. You will leave this planet and never look back. This planet is not and will never be under control of any outside species." Zim lifted his chin again, evil eyes molten with some unnameable emotion she had never seen on an irken. "We will give you two rotations of the planet to leave the Earth's atmosphere. If you haven't by then, we will destroy you."

Malak-a opened her mouth to shout back, but he had already swept from the room. The human soon followed, shooting them one last unreadable glance.

She seethed on the floor where she had fallen before, still holding her injured hand that thrummed a new sharp pain with each pulse. Looma-r swallowed anxiously beside her.

"W-what do we do, Malak-a?"

The two of them; a human and an irken (who was either banished or defective, that was the only explanation) had managed to take down all the defensives and most of the offensives that their ship had within a few short minutes. They had rendered them all but useless, injured Looma-r and herself.

The stubborn part of her wanted to stay, to stand up to them. But, she wasn't an idiot. This wasn't meant to be a battle. They had no real choice if they didn't want to be 'destroyed', whatever that truly meant.

"We retreat. And find a different planet for our Empire."

And tell everyone the bizarre thing they had witnessed here. No one would believe it.


	2. Of Birthdays and Loyalty

The metal magenta wall was stamped with the irken empire's sigil. Every day for the last seven years, every time he walked past it, Zim had saluted with a little wiggle of his antenna. And if he was feeling particularly patriotic, a full on invader's salute, fist over his spooch.

The day after Dib had emailed him back, after he'd single handedly broken down a century of denial...Zim had done the salute out of habit. Then he'd froze, realizing what he'd done.

Loyalty to his Empire was as natural as breathing. He'd been taught from smeethood the greatness of his leaders, of the Armada's ever growing hold on the universe. Zim had been drilled on statistics of genocide, death, destruction and made to feel pride for it.

He'd stared at the Irken's symbol, how it bore into his mind, and felt guilt. Not just for how he'd turned his back on the Empire (never mind how they had done it first) but also, for saluting in the first place. He'd thought of Dib. His great enemy. Now ally. He thought of how the Dib, so pathetic and human, had somehow managed to garner just as much loyalty from Zim as his entire empire had.

It was unfeasible. It was treason. It was...was borderline defective. He'd shoved all those thoughts aside. He was unable to truly think on them. The weeks passed, their truce held steady and he continued to automatically salute his Empire. And each time he'd be frozen with warring forces of guilt.

Zim tried to call them. The Tallest. Of course he knew what he would find. A static screen, an error message. Thoughts of denial used to fill his head. They were out of range, they were really busy, the lines were down.

Now though he knew with a dreaded certainty that his calls were being blocked. Zim remembered shamefully how he'd fallen to his knees and screamed for hours with the realization. He'd broken things, expensive equipment, shattered test tubes and screens. He'd been blind with rage and betrayal and-

Gir's big blue eyes brought him back. They stared up at him, unknowingly.

"Youse upset." The tiny robot had declared. And he'd held out the disgusting thing in his hand, some drool covered toy. He offered it to his master, that it might make him feel better.

Zim refused to touch the thing but, he'd picked up Gir instead, held him tight against his chest. "I-its alright, Gir. We...we don't need them, anyway..." Zim ignored how gross his little minion smelled. His own voice sounded hoarse from screaming. "It's like the Dib said, th-they lied to me." The words felt filthy on his tongue. Darkness clawed at his chest. It was lies. Such horrible lies. All of it, everything.

Gir let himself be held limply, understanding nothing. "Okay. You wanna watch tv?"

* * *

The insignia tortured him. Every time he saw it he felt a twinge of muscle memory loyalty. But, time passed. As it always did. The disgusting guilt he felt warped into rage. He pictured the entire Armada, laughing at him. Zim imagined the twin grinning faces of his leaders as they sent him to the far reaches of their known universe, hoping he never returned. The anger gnawed at his guts, made his blood boil. He stared at the symbols, seething with unshed rage until he felt he would be sick.

Zim did his best to just not look at it. He refused to acknowledge the giant gaping wound in his identity. He unconsciously filled it in with unsolved mysteries, conspiracy theories, haunted houses, protection charms, late nights playing video games and eating too much sugar, typing back and forth for hours and hours...he filled the hole in his soul with amber eyes and laughter, with camping under the stars and protecting each other's backs...

Zim replaced the aching loneliness that he'd always pretended not to feel, with x files re-runs and trashy sci fi novels, with colorful clothing of every shade and fabric, and with music. Irkens had banned music long ago. It was silly, it was pointless. It could carry messages that couldn't be filtered. And music was incredible. It hummed in his skin and lifted his spooch. Dib made him a special pair of speakers that attached to his antenna for the anniversary of their Truce.

Then one day he glanced over at the magenta wall, the embedded symbols of his past, of his people. And he felt only a faint aching sadness. For what he used to be. For what he used to think he belonged to. For a place in the Empire that he had desperately wanted to be part of.

Zim placed a hand over the irken insignia. Once he had wanted to be forever remembered. He'd wanted to be an Invader. He was going to be the best one they had ever seen. He would bring pride and glory to his species. Now the idea rang out hollow in his mind.

What use was it? What use was his name in some stupid records? What use was their approval? It had none because Zim knew he would've never been satisfied. He would've wanted more. He still did. He wanted their love, their acknowledgment that he was the best irken to ever live, he wanted their apologies and their fear.

And it would never, ever happen.

Zim covered the insignia up. Painted it over with black and with a crudely drawn picture of Earth.

* * *

 **AgentMothman is now online.**

 **NORMALHUMANZIM is now online.**

 **AgentMothman:** Hey

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** Hello you are up late

 **AgentMothman:** I guess? Just a few hours later

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** Why?

 **AgentMothman:** I dunno, just couldn't sleep. What are YOU doing up?

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** I do not sleep you inferior bean, you know this

 **AgentMothman:** Lies. I've seen you sleep.

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** Incorrect, as per usual. that is recharging.

 **AgentMothman:** Do you close your eyes?

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** uhh yes?

 **AgentMothman:** Do you lose consciousness?

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** Yes, I suppose so

 **AgentMothman** : Do you dream?

 **NORMALHUMANZIM** : not really. But, sometimes memories replay.

 **AgentMothman:** soo

 **AgentMothman:** basically, what you're saying is that

 **AgentMothman:** you sleep

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** NO

 **AgentMothman:** i mean that sounds a lot like sleep to me? But what do i knw

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** jkdfhskdf you drive me crazy

 **AgentMothman:** I aim to please

 **AgentMothman:** ANYWAY

 **AgentMothman:** whaaaaat are you doing tomorrow?

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** i do not know. maybe cleaning out GIR because he is filthy

 **AgentMothman:** Gross. What if instead of that, you helped me celebrate my birthday?

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** what?

 **AgentMothman:** yanno, the day I was born. Or I guess? The day they decided I was ripe enough to remove from the little test tube thingy they had me in idk

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** no i mean...you just had your birthday

 **AgentMothman:** yeah. Last year.

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** it has already been a year?!

 **AgentMothman** : man you're really getting the hang of punctuation, ZIM.

 **AgentMothman:** Yeah. I was 20. Now I'm gonna be 21.

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** impossible

 **AgentMothman:** nope. Just time.

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** oh

 **AgentMothman:** lol yep

 **AgentMothman:** Zim?

 **AgentMothman:** Zim you okay?

 **AgentMothman:** do i need to come over there orrrr?

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** NO ITS FINE

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** I mean

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** Do not worry your tiny brain. It is fine.

 **AgentMothman:** Uh huh. I mean...you SEEM fine. *sarcasm* - jsyk

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** Thank You Dib I am quite aware it was sarcasm.

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** what were your plans for your birthday celebration?

 **AgentMothman:** ummm i dont know. There's no big party this year. I went and got lunch with dad and Gaz today so nothing to do with them. I was thinking we could just watch movies or something.

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** hmmm...that is a terrible idea

 **AgentMothman:** thanks

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** I have an idea!

 **AgentMothman:** really?

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** YES

 **AgentMothman:** tell me?

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** NO

 **AgentMothman:** why not?

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** It is a secret! A Surprise, if you will!

 **AgentMothman:** oh. Great.

 **AgentMothman:** will your surprise, maybe, possibly, kill me?

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** no of course not, you stupid idiot with hair.

 **AgentMothman:** well good. What time should I come over for this 'surprise' that won't totally kill me? Also what should I wear? Are we talking like...stuff that I'm ok with getting ruined? Or my hiking junk?

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** UM 4 O'CLOCK AND WEAR THE BLACK TIE

 **AgentMothman:** Caps, ZIM

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** sorry. kind of.

 **AgentMothman:** alright, I will do that then

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** Good I imagine that you are absolutely trembling with excitement about the prospect of such a surprise

 **AgentMothman:** well, I wouldn't go that far. But, I'm definitely intrigued. I'm actually a little bit surprised that you haven't already blurted it out tbh

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** how dare you?

 **AgentMothman:** just speaking the truth, my small lizard pal

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** shouldn't you be sleeping? I know humans need lots of sleep because they are inferior and disgusting

 **AgentMothman:** haha well, you got one thing right. I should be sleeping.

 **AgentMothman:** Good night. I'll see you tomorrow, I guess.

 **NORMALHUMANZIM:** Yes, yes have good rest Dib

 _ **AgentMothman is now offline.**_

 _ **NORMALHUMANZIM is now offline.**_

* * *

The doorbell rang and Zim answered it, expecting the human on the other side. He was also expecting that Dib would look different than he normally did, since his usual outfit would be replaced with something nicer. Something 'black tie'.

But, he had no way of expecting his own reaction to seeing the human. Zim's face suddenly felt too warm, his spooch beat a little too fast. He ate up Dib's familiar presence like he was dying of starvation. The human's hands were shoved in his pockets, the fading sun caught on his hair, the creases in the dark fabric. His skin was tanned a bit from too much sun, freckled like smatterings of stars. His clothes were pressed and clean. Zim's antenna twitched under his wig as a light breeze blew. Dib smelled like his shampoo and laundry soap. Zim grabbed his own stomach. It felt like something was stuck in there, it wanted out.

"Hi." Dib said, first. "That's usually what people say when they see each other. They don't just stare."

Zim blinked. "Yes, hello."

The human raised an eyebrow. "Are you...okay?"

"Uhh huh?! Yes, yes. I am fine." Zim shook himself until the strange sensations dissipated. "Better than fine. I am amazing. Perfect." Earth air sure did weird stuff. All the pollution and global warming and...and whatever.

Dib's lips curved up into a little smirk. "So, am I coming in? Or are we driving somewhere?"

Zim stepped aside for the human.

"Nice dress." Dib said, casually. "So, what's the surprise, Zim?" The little irken brushed non existent dust off his outfit. Yes, of course it was nice. He only wore things that were worthy for him. Dib was trying to seem nonchalant, Zim noted.

"You must have patience, silly human boy." Pause. "But, if you must know, I am taking you to space." Zim watched his guest eagerly for a reaction.

"Space? You...you had me wear my fancy clothes...for space?"

Zim nodded, excited. "That is a birthday thing, is it not?"

Dib shook his head, exasperated. "Sometimes, I guess."

The irken hesitated as he pushed the button that would bring them, standing in the center of his living room to the roof where he kept the Voot.

"Um. Space. Is...is space alright? I mean..." He didn't want to admit that his amazing idea might actually be lame. It was just the only thing he could think of. Dib liked space, right? "We could um, do something else. If you wanted."

"No. No." Dib shook his head, earnestly. " Space... space is awesome, Zim." He laughed quietly. Zim's antenna twitched at the sound. "I mean, more than awesome honestly. I've only really ever gotten to see it when we were like...fighting? So, yeah."

"Exactly!" Zim shouted. He was glad that his plan had remained rightfully brilliant. Dib just smirked at him, half heatedly wondering if he should remind his friend about inside voices and decided against it.

The two of them managed to squeeze into the Voot Cruiser side by side as they had tons of times before. But, for some reason Zim was suddenly quite aware of how little room there was. How it caused them to touch. Their arms and sides, shoulders. How much space Dib took up with his big head and broad shoulders and it was just downright uncomfortable.

Zim made a mental note to see about expanding the Voot's size. All of those thoughts disappeared once they were past all of Earth's atmosphere and into the dark recesses of space.

It was silence. Cold and dark encompassing the tiny vehicle. The void was merciless. It could destroy even the bravest or strongest within seconds. And yet it also contained every element, every building block for life, for suns and trees and music and useless knick knacks on shelves at dollar stores.

It was vast and ever expanding. Terrifying and beautiful.

Zim had explored it for many, many years. It was easy to take it for granted. To say 'been there, done that'. But, one look at the human, at the utter awe and delight...and it reignited his own passion for the vast infinity.

Zim flew the voot along the edges of Earth. They admired the heavy clouds, the billions of shining lights. Before shooting off further into the Milky Way, spending time at each of the planets. Dib spouted off fact after fact that he'd learned from his long hours of researching.

"A year on Saturn is like...29 earth years. Isn't that so weird? And it's gigantic. I mean I guess you can see that. And its super pretty. Even if its just a bunch of gas." Dib babbled, face nearly pressed against the Voot's window.

Zim watched him warily, only mildly annoyed at the little grubby fingerprints the other was leaving. He looked down at the planet his companion was spouting random trivia about. Yeah it was alright, he supposed. Not the nicest thing he'd ever seen. But, not the ugliest either.

"Meh." He replied, simply. Dib sent him a look.

"What do you mean 'meh'? Saturn is amazing."

"I mean, its okay, Dib. But, I have seen much more impressive planets in my lifetime."

The human's attention was fully on Zim now and that fact alone was enough to have Zim grinning smugly.

"Oh yeah, spaceboy?"

Zim regaled the human with tales from his exploration years. Or even with his assignments as a scientist or a elite soldier, both of which had taken him far from Irk. He told Dib of planets with buildings carved from giant crystals. Of oceans of rainbow sands. Of bloodthirsty creatures with giant teeth and beady eyes. Of planets that had gigantic libraries and seemingly endless flea markets with every product imaginable. He told the human about mountains so tall and deadly that no one had ever been able to climb them successfully. Of lush lavender jungles and the strange creatures that lived there. Zim talked and talked, pausing occasionally only when Dib asked a question.

It was only when Dib's stomach made such a loud noise that it startled Zim and sent them both into small laughing fits, that they flew back to Earth.

"That all does sound incredible." The human remarked, whimsically. A side glance showed Zim that his eyes looked far away.

"It was..." The irken searched for the words. It HAD been very fascinating. But, now that he thought back on it, his younger self hadn't actually cared much for the planets he'd been on. It had all been very mechanical and about assessing planets for resources. Not about appreciating them for their intrinsic value. "Alright." He shrugged.

"Just alright?!" Dib exclaimed, pressing a hand to his head. "I would absolutely love to just...just explore the Universe! That's been one of my dreams since before I could even comprehend what space was!" The glowing cities of their planet rose up closer. Soon they would be home. "I want see it all!"

"Hmm, well." Zim's forehead furrowed in thought. "Such exploration would probably require you leaving Earth for a very,very,very long time." If not forever. And that didn't seem like something the Dib would be very keen on. He eyed the human for a reaction and was astounded to see him just shrug.

"Yeah, I guess so. But, it would be worth it, right?"

Zim opened his mouth, then closed it again just as quickly. Dib would just...just leave Earth? Leave everything he'd ever known? Would willingly drop his place as loyal protector of his planet...all to just go see some space rocks?

"I'm hungry." Dib interrupted the irken's thoughts. He laughed a bit. "What do you think they'd say if we went through the drive though with your Voot?"


End file.
